When I was a kid I developed a love of reading. I was into the Doc Savage series, sci-fi, fantasy, and then read many books by Alistair MacLean, Tolkien, and others. Of course in high school there was a lot of required readings – especially the classics, that kept my nose buried. But as I grew older, I found a lot of reading centered around my Christian faith. The Bible became central to my beliefs and I wanted to dive in deeper.
I love to read what the fathers of our faith discovered in their journeys, but I always found that the Bible continued to call me back. Since I’ve read through the Bible many times, you may wonder if I’ve read enough. I would answer with a resounding NO! You see, each time I open the Bible, God speaks to me. So, I thought I would share with you some of the reasons why I open the Good Book daily – and no, it’s not because I’m a preacher. I believe God’s Holy Word is important for all of us.
In the Bible, God says to meditate on His Word day and night. In doing that I am reminded how much God loves me. His Word fills us with hope and faith and helps us navigate through an increasingly godless world.
His Word also reminds me that I have a long way to grow. Often in some of the familiar stories, I put myself in the place of the main character. I know, I’m not David, who slayed a giant, or Abraham that showed great faith when following God. More often than not, I’m probably the scared Hebrews in the camp or the ones complaining in the desert. But like the Apostle Paul, I keep pressing’ on toward the goal.
I’ll admit that sometimes my daily reading takes me to some non-thrilling passages and I find it difficult to get through, but the more I go through it, I see the cord that connects all of scripture to God’s wonderful plan. Sometimes when reading through a familiar or difficult passage, a word or phrase may hit me differently than it did before. It’s amazing how many times I may have passed over a phrase and later it became an important sermon for my life.
I know there are many other reasons why reading God’s Word is important. I would love to hear your thoughts.